Adobe Photoshop CS3: Top 100 Simplified Tips & Tricks (Top 100 Simplified Tips & Tricks)

Photoshop®: Top 100 Simplified Tips & Tricks provides adventurous Photoshop users with a visual reference on how to use the bells and whistles found in the latest version of Photoshop. Broken out in 10 chapters, with 10 tasks per chapter, Photoshop®: Top 100 Simplified Tips & Tricks covers 100 cool and useful tips and tricks that can be performed in the newest release of Photoshop. Full-color screen shots and numbered, step-by-step instructions show you how to take their Photoshop skills to new heights. Order the latest edition today and make your pictures pop.

User review
Good for Novices and Intermediate Users Only
This book is well written and well organized. It teaches you some time saving tricks and some of the basic concepts that are beyond what's in Photoshop's very inclusive Help system. You learn how to make selections, how to color correct or even change a selected region's colors. You learn how to crop an image to specific dimensions and fit the crop to a certain size. You learn basic concepts on how to use layers to the best advantage, and how to use layer masks and adjustment layers. The book is full of great tips. However, once you've gone through the tips in the book, you'll put the book away and not use it again (unless you have a poor memory). Once you learn what is offered here, you won't need the book in the future.

Another thing -- Most of the tips are quite useful. However, some are not, and some are downright 'the wrong way' to go about getting your work done. A few of these 'wrong ways' waste your time, and once you learn the wrong way, it's up to you to find the faster, better way.

All in all, it's a great book for people starting out with Photoshop CS2, CS3 or later, and it's helpful for intermediate users. But advanced users will find this book unsatisfying. So, buy this book if you're new to Photoshop and need some help in getting started, but beware. Some of the techniques here are not quite right -- there are easier, faster ways of getting your work done. However, this book provides a good place to start. It will get you going. You'll become familiar with what you need to know. Then soon, you'll discover that some of the techniques shown here are real time wasters.

User review
Excellent resource
Purely self-taught, I've been using photoshop since version 5. This book has been an invaluable resource in enabling me to quickly perform tasks that I once labored over for hours (while thinking, there's got to be a better way).

There are a few occasions when I've had to re-read a description or perform the task twice when the explanation wasn't clear to me, but over all, this book is a wonderful addition to my library. Many thanks to the author Lynette Kent and to Amazon for fast delivery.

User review
Finally! A book I can learn from.
I've been using PS for years now. However, I might as well have been using a much more basic program. I pretty much only cropped, adjusted levels, maybe messed with saturation, and used a few filters. Oh and I was a pretty good hand at removing small stuff with the clone tool, but I did all of this on the original picture. I almost never messed with those scary layers.

When I upgraded to CS3 I decided I was going to finally learn how to actually use this wonderful program. It was hard for me to admit that, in most ways that counted, I was a beginner. And then I ended up with numerous books that were either totally over my head or so huge, intimidating and boring that I could not force myself to use them.

Then I stumbled on Top 100 Simplified Tips and Tricks! Finally, something that was easy to follow, not boring and didn't assume I knew how to do much of anything. I'm on lesson 13 and learning faster than I ever have before. I'm also enjoying it!

I love the visual style, with just enough text to explain what you're doing. The Tips at the end of each `trick` are very helpful.

I was so pleased that I immediately ordered Teach Yourself VISUALLY - Adobe Photoshop CS3. I know some of that book will likely be a bit redundant or cover things that I already know, but I'm hoping to pick up even more info. If I had it to do over I would likely go through the Teach Yourself Visually first and then the Tips and Tricks. I believe that's how they are designed to be used, but I seem to be doing fine this way.

If you are a beginner, I can't recommend this book enough. You can get right in there and start having fun and improving your pictures with a minimum of frustration and confusion.

The only down side is that this book does not include either a CD of practice photos nor a web link to download them from. When working through tutorials I prefer to use the same shot that is being used by the author first and then go back and redo the tutorial with my own photo if I have something appropriate. However, I've found that if I didn't have an appropriate photo to practice on, I can almost always find something pretty easily via Google Images.

I would also like to recommend Photoshop Layers by Matt Kloskowski. Of the ridiculous number of books I ordered, this is the only other one I'm currently working my way through and really learning from. There are a few things that are assumed in this book, but not much and if you work through the two Visual books first I think you can avoid even that minor frustration.

User review
You need these 100 essential tips!
If you can master these 100 easy tricks, you'll be well on the way to using all of Photoshop's most essential features. I actually found this a painless way to ease into some of the program's more complex capabilities, and thought the tricks were valuable for doing specific clever things, as well. Highly recommended.

User review
Tips and Tricks
Very simple and easy to follow. I learned and applied some amazing stuff very quickly on Cs3. I could not have asked for anything more.